Simon Trpceski's return to Disney Hall after a triumphant
appearance last season with the Los Angeles Philharmonic
playing Rachmaninoff was a triumph itself. Armed with the
tools and charisma of the great Romantic virtuosi, Trpceski,
almost incongruously at times, chose to explore the interior
of Haydn and Chopin before delighting the audience with a
folk music-based Suite by fellow Macedonian Pande Shahov and
finishing with the mechanistic charms and power of
Prokofiev's last sonata.

Trpceski's method, although it hardly felt like it, was not
to overpower the music or overwhelm the audience. Instead he
drew the listeners into the music with performances that
might have seemed improvisatory but turned out to be deeply
revealing. The Haydn C Minor, which has been used by
pianists as apposite as Richter and Brendel, served its
purpose here, acclimatizing the audience to Trpceski's quiet
poetry. No need for stylistic verity when the simple
blueprints laid out by Haydn are so self referencing and
profound. The Chopin Nocturnes were in a similar vein, the
occasional gorgeous melodies played with hesitation leading
to sublime illumination.

Shahov's 15-minute Songs and Whispers, introduced by
Trpceski from the stage as a hybrid of Macedonian folk songs
and Chopin reflection, caught up both the pianist and the
audience in its subtle typically cross-hatched Macedonian
rhythms and there was much shouting and many bravos at the
end.

In the mighty Prokofiev, Trpceski softened the composer's
steely intentions until exploding in the last movement. The
result focused on the composer's human side instead of
employing the usual incendiary tactics. Two gentle encores
sent the audience out into an unusually cold Los Angeles
night: one of the variations from Mozart's Duport set, and a
small Chopin waltz.

Disney Hall provided Trpceski with an audiophile sound that
was rich and full and warm, yet precisely detailed.